Google Calendar can feed any other calendar app through one private link — the Secret address in iCal format. It's how you get your family Google Calendar into a team-schedule app, a spouse's setup, or a wall display without making the calendar public to the internet.
It's also buried four clicks deep in settings that only exist on the desktop site. Here's exactly where it lives, which of the three similar-looking links to copy, and what to do when Google says the calendar isn't found.
Open Google Calendar on a computer. The secret address only exists on the web version — calendar.google.com in a browser. The Google Calendar phone app doesn't expose it anywhere (if you're on a phone, request the desktop site or borrow a laptop for two minutes).
Open Settings and pick the calendar. Click the gear icon (top right) → Settings. In the left sidebar under "Settings for my calendars," click the specific calendar you want the feed for — each calendar (family, kids' activities, work) has its own separate address.
Scroll to "Integrate calendar". On that calendar's settings page, scroll down to the Integrate calendar section. You'll see several links; the two that matter are "Public address in iCal format" (only works if the calendar is shared publicly) and "Secret address in iCal format" (works regardless).
Copy the Secret address in iCal format. Click the copy icon next to Secret address in iCal format. The link looks like https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/…/private-…/basic.ics — that private- segment is what makes it work without the calendar being public. Treat it like a password: anyone holding the link can read that calendar.
Paste it where the calendar needs to go. Paste it into any app that subscribes to calendars by URL. In Schedule Caddie it merges that Google Calendar into your family calendar alongside team apps and school schedules — checked hourly, with an email when something changes.
Paste the link into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook and it works — and if Google Calendar is your whole system, you may not need anything else. The squeeze comes when half the family's schedule ISN'T in Google — the team app feeds, the school PDF, the league site — and someone has to be the human sync between them.
The public address gives me a 404 / "calendar not found"
That's Google telling you the calendar isn't shared publicly — the public/basic.ics link only works after you enable "Make available to public" in that calendar's Access permissions. You usually don't want that for a family calendar; use the Secret address instead, which works without any public sharing.
I copied the link from the "embed" or share screen and it doesn't work
The embed link (calendar/embed?src=…) is a web page for iframes, not a calendar feed — most apps can't read it. Go to Integrate calendar and use one of the iCal-format addresses instead. (If you paste an embed link into Schedule Caddie, we detect it and convert it to the right feed automatically when the calendar is public.)
There's no Secret address on the calendar I want
Two common cases: calendars someone else owns (you only see secret addresses for calendars you own — ask the owner to share theirs, or subscribe to the calendar and export from your own account), and some Workspace/school accounts where an admin has disabled external sharing entirely.
I think someone has my secret link who shouldn't
In the same Integrate calendar section, click "Reset" next to the secret address (Google calls it resetting private URLs). The old link dies instantly and a new one is generated — you'll need to re-paste the new link anywhere you were using the old one.
Yes, with one rule: treat it like a password. The link itself is the only protection — no login is asked of whoever holds it. Paste it into services you trust, don't post it anywhere public, and use Google's Reset option if it ever leaks.
They serve the same events. The public one only works if the calendar is explicitly shared publicly (rare for family calendars); the secret one always works because the unguessable link IS the access control. For a private family or work calendar, the secret address is the one you want.
Yes — the address is a live feed, so edits, additions, and cancellations flow through. How fast depends on the reader: other calendar apps poll on their own schedules (often 12–24 hours); Schedule Caddie checks hourly and emails you exactly what changed.
Only the calendar's owner sees its secret address. Easiest paths: have the owner copy it for you, or share the calendar to your Google account normally — for many families the cleanest setup is each parent pasting their own calendar's secret address into one shared Schedule Caddie account.
Verified September 2026 against the current Google Calendar web interface. Google occasionally moves settings around — if a step doesn't match what you see, tell us and we'll fix it.
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